Crack on sulcata?

KRam

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Hi everyone,
I am wondering if someone can tell me about this on my 7 year old sulcata’s shell. We adopted him almost 3 years ago and he had hardly grown (Was the size of a tennis ball) because he wasn’t cared for properly, but since we’ve had him he has had regular soakings and proper nutrition, heat, and humidity and is now about the size of a basketball. He hasn’t had any accidents or shell damage. We did move to a drier cooler climate. It almost looks like a fold on the one side. I am just concerned and appreciate any insight.

ACF960B4-2D95-490E-B4D3-5DACCBB428AE.jpeg
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Earlier in this tortoise's life, it was raised too dry. Sometimes growth anomalies like this will occur. We usually refer to this one as "two scutes stuck together."

Not much you can do about it. The tortoise should have a heated night box, and you should keep the heated box humidified by keeping tubs of water or buckets in there. Something like one of these:

Just put a bucket of water in there.
 

KRam

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Thank you for the information! Will it cause any issues for him with his growth or overall health??
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Thank you for the information! Will it cause any issues for him with his growth or overall health??
Well its a scute malformation, so it is a growth issue of sorts, but it won't stop him from growing larger, and it shouldn't have any impact on health at all.
 

KRam

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Location (City and/or State)
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I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you.
And thanks for the info on the box and bucket of water. We just built him a cold weather box very similar to yours to be able to move into the garage and house, but I didn’t think about just putting a bucket of water in there-much easier than the humidifier I was going to set up everyday for him:)
thanks again!
 
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